Laertes and Polonius as foils to Hamlet Foils are the minor characters in a play that help develop the major characters. By using the similarities and differences between two characters, the audience can better understand that main character. In Hamlet, Shakespeare uses many contrasting elements to develop the main characters of his play. Two elements that Shakespeare used to develop Hamlet's character were Laertes and Polonius. One of the important elements for the play is Laertes. Although Laertes does not appear often in the play, he brings a lot to Hamlet's plot and character. These two are similar in many ways. They both appear to be around the same age, well educated and gentlemen. One main thing they have in common is that they both seek revenge for their father's death. Both their fathers were killed needlessly. Hamlet's father was killed by his father's brother for the crown and his wife, and Hamlet killed Laertes' father by mistaken identity. It was the revenge of these two that formed the plot of the story. Thanks to Laertes the two were finally able to take their revenge in the final battle which killed both Hamlet and the new king. If Laertes had not challenged Hamlet, the king would have died in some other way; however, the king died from poison just as he had killed his brother. Another similarity in the play is the fact that both Laertes and Hamlet died from the poisoned tip of the same sword. Laertes and Hamlet were the last two to die. In this way all those who had been directly involved in the shameful scandal had died. [SS] The poison killed the king, the queen, Hamlet and Laertes, Polonius was killed by Ha...... half of the paper ...... of the papers Shakespeare used to develop the character of Hamlet. However, the one who did his best to accomplish this task was Laertes. Laertes and Hamlet had a common goal, and if it were not for him[,] the story would have taken a completely different path. Polonius was a good foil as he convinced everyone that Ophelia was the cause of Hamlet's madness. If he hadn't been Ophelia's father, this part of the story might not have been so effective. Works Cited Bloom, Harold. Modern critical interpretations of Hamlet. New York, NY: Chelsea House Publishers, 1986. Charney, Maurice. All Shakespeare. New York, New York. Columbia University Press. 1993.Magill, Frank N. Master Plots. Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1995.Shakespeare, William. Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. The bank of the Shakespeare River. AND. G. Blakemore Evans. Boston: Haughton Mifflin Company, 1974.